Hello, I want to make a website for our business. About 6 pages, with tabs to take the visitor to the page they want. I also want to have a link on the first page so people can send an email. Is the VSD all I need? We don't need forms or online shops, its an information only site.

Also, do I then need to buy an S drive plan to host it? The free plan shows 1 web address but I already have a domain name (.com.au). Does that make it 2 addresses? My own plus the coffee cup one.

Hope someone can help me sort this out.
Thanks, Juliet

Hi Juliet.
Keep your existing domain and use VSD. If you buy VSD you can publish your site to your free S-Drive account for testing then when your ready to publish it to your existing domain you'll be all set. Take the trial version for a test drive to see what you think. There's plenty of users here to help you out if you get stuck.

Thanks Rolly, you are going to see how new I am at this.

So just to clarify -
1. I buy VSD, then once I have designed what I want in it
2. I then get a free S drive account (mydomain at coffee cup etc) and test publish it.

Then, when its all good to go, ?????. Here is where I come unstuck, what do I do then? You said when you're ready to publish to my existing domain but its only a domain name at the moment, there is nothing else.
Cheers, Juliet

Juliet, you'll need to get a hosting plan. If you go with CoffeeCup SDrive I'm not sure if you can use your own domain name on a free account, but you can on a paid acct.
Wherever you go, you can upload your site from within VSD (once you enter your host's FTP info). If you stick with an SDrive acct., all you need is your username and a password to publish your site.

You'll find plenty of help and support around here, no matter your hosting company (but SDrive makes things very easy)

Juliet, in my signature below is a website for wedding cars

Unlike my other sites hosted elswhere that site is PERMANENTLY hosted on SDRIVE FREE account

its own url is something like weddingcars.coffeecup.com but in the address bar you see chauffeurdrivenluxurycars.co.uk which is the equivalent of your .com.au

Once your site is up and running, just ask in here under sdrive domains for help pointing your .com.au domain name at it to achieve what i have, our resident domain expert Paintbrush or I will talk you through it.

Eric i Know you use your CC sdrive for testing only but i am sure CC intend it to be used as a live hosting account for smaller new user websites as in this thread. and its ranking really well with Google I got my usual 3rd place for wedding cars and executive cars by location

THANK YOU VIV!!
That is the answer I was hoping for. I thought that is what I could do but got a bit lost in the jargon. Many thanks for your clear answer. Once we have the site the way we want it, I will be back to work out this pointing thing.

Cheers
Juliet

Pleasure, not knowing what the site will be about,

If you want it to be found in search results by google yahoo etc, the set up is a little more complicated than if you just want a site where you direct people to the url personally.

So when its ready, let us all know which you are after and we can insure its done the best / easiest way

Sorry, I should have said. We are just boring old accountants needing to have a small presence. We shan't want too much in the way of search results etc as we are not marketing or selling. Its mainly to have the permanent site with the .com.au extension plus emails. We will mostly direct people via either business cards etc or just advising them verbally.

So, there won't be fancy pictures, flash presentations, music, twitters, facebook, animations or any of the other goodies available, just words

Cheers
Juliet

Not even one spinning globe?

The free SDrive account should be perfect for you. Plus, it will be very easy to maintain and edit if needed.

Paintbrush did you spot the EMAIL ISSUE

Juliet in order to use the email related to your .com.au url theres a very specific way of pointing your .com.au in order for it to work.

No need to concern yourself too much BUT FIRST you will need to check that you can operate your email at the registrar account SECOND that they offer you the option to set a re-direct described as something like IN A FRAME, or CLOAKED

Your CC sdrive account will not support email, so you have to use either the registrar or something like gmail, yahoomail, or outlook

I should have added, getting it found by google etc, especially for a location if you want mainly local new clients to find you is part of the fun of web design, just adding a single page to your site which is all about your location, how to find you, a jpg map and some carefully worded text about each solicitor in the practice, what they specialise in and where they live or work from, can get you first page ranking easily, so its worth preparing that tab and page for future use even if you dont initially need it, as its hard VERY TIME CONSUMING to add another page at a later date, so put in a spare or two tabs ready